Month: January 2015

Just kidding…it’s really not all that bad here, but the media would have you believe that we’re all going to be snowed in for days and you’d better have milk, bread and eggs or else! However, I do like snowy evenings when activities are canceled, so we have to slow down and just hang out together as a family.

Lily has been doing pretty well since her trip to the hospital in December. We are keeping an eye on her (ahem) “output” and making sure we stay on top of it before she ends up in that situation again. We joke about it, but it can get very serious very quickly if we do not keep ahead of it. Her teacher has reported some sessions with good eye gazes, which is great. We try to be happy with any small accomplishments.

This is a hard time of year for us, with the anniversary of her accident coming up next month. I am still amazed at how much Lily has been through and how strong and resilient she is. She is a fighter and does not give up. She is my inspiration and strength. I wish more than anything that I could take all of this away from her and take it on myself. We just try to give her the best quality of life we can and let her know how loved, adored, and needed she is.

Can I just give a shout out to my husband? He is truly the greatest dad ever. He is absolutely dedicated to taking care of Lily and gives so much time and energy to her needs. Many men would have ditched this life a long time ago, but Todd continues to be our rock. He loves our children and is a huge supporter of me and my job and other activities I do (for my sanity). I honestly don’t know what we would do without him.

That’s about it from here for now. Thanks for your continued love and prayers.

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Our holidays were pretty good this year. We had our parents, siblings, and their children here on Christmas day and it was a lot of fun. One of my favorite things about Christmas is giving gifts to everyone–love that! Lily got a ton of new clothes and fun nail polish and nail art kits so she is going to be very stylish in 2015!

Since Lily’s accident, the holidays have been very bittersweet for us. We do our best to enjoy the season and the purpose of the season, but we also miss our sweet girl’s laughter and joy about it. I must admit I struggled a bit this year, but did my best to enjoy it as much as possible. I think we all struggle throughout it sometimes. Christmas time is depicted everywhere you look as the time of the year when perfect families, in their perfectly decorated homes, give each other new cars, new computers, or whatever the latest version of Tickle Me Elmo is. But, for many people (not just us), it can be a very difficult time. We try to make it the best it can possibly be, and give ourselves permission to ache and hurt and grieve. It is in those moments where I seek the comfort of God the most. A couple of weeks ago, I was praying/talking to God and I just asked him to surround me with his peace, which is beyond my ability to understand. I rested in that as much as I could this season and it carried me through, like nothing else could.

Lily has been doing well since her trip to the hospital last week. 🙂 I’m so glad we were able to get that sorted out before Christmas. She has been very alert this week and turns to look at me just about every time I come up to her to talk to her she’ll turn her head toward me and look right at me. That makes me so happy! I read this post a few days ago and wanted to share it here. It expresses a lot and I wish I had written it myself! Please take a minute to read it.

Also, here are a few photos from a photo session we did in the fall with Carolyn Kirchner Photography! We are so happy with how they turned out.

We also wanted to say how grateful we are to all of you for your continued support and prayers. Please, please do not forget our sweet girl. She is so strong, tough, and resilient and her spirit still shines through no matter what. We love her more than words can say. Also, please remember Bryce in your prayers. He still struggles with all of this sometimes and needs support as well. We are so proud of the young man he’s becoming.